Florida schools likely to be shut out of NFL Draft's first round

GAINESVILLE — Florida coach Will Muschamp was speaking only for his team, but the same sentiment could have been uttered by any of the top-tier college coaches in the state.

"I've always said you find out what kind of football team you had in April," Muschamp said last week.

For the major programs in the state of Florida, this week's NFL Draft isn't expected to yield overwhelmingly positive reviews. None of the programs —Florida, Florida State, Miami, UCF, FAU, Florida International and USF — is projected to have a first-round pick.

For a state rich in high-school talent, that's rare. It's been more than three decades, since 1980, that the state's schools have been shut out in the first round. In that span, the schools have combined to produce 118 first-round picks.

Florida will all but surely see its nation's-best streak of five consecutive years with a first-round pick end on Thursday.

"Well, in many respects, that's a reflection of what's gone on in the past," said former Colts GM Bill Polian, now an analyst with ESPN.

While Polian said he expects improvement under relatively new head coaches, the on-field results certainly give explanation for the lack of elite talent. Not since Florida went 13-1 in 2009 has any of the programs emerged as a national title contender.

Florida State started last season with outside hopes of that, but injuries helped contribute to a 9-4 mark. Only Florida (7-6) and FIU (8-5) posted winning records last season. After an 11-3 mark in 2010, UCF fell to 5-7 last year. USF posted the same record.

"We've dipped in talent," said Muschamp, noting that the program is 15-11 in the past two seasons after going 8-5 in 2010 in Urban Meyer's final year in Gainesville.

It's a former Gator who might have the best chance of hearing his name called on Thursday. Pahokee native Janoris Jenkins left the team after two marijuana-related arrests in the spring of 2011 and played his senior season at Division II North Alabama.

An All-SEC cornerback, Jenkins has been praised for his man-coverage skills and is likely the second best at his position in the draft behind LSU's Morris Claiborne. But character concerns with his past drug use, four children by three different mothers and switching agents after the combine might have dropped him out of the first round.

It's UCF, meanwhile, that could land the state's highest pick. Cornerback Josh Robinson is projected to go in the second round after he backed up his decision to forgo his senior year with the fastest 40-yard dash time (4.33 seconds) at the NFL Combine.

If Robinson went a round higher than projected, he would be only the second first-round pick in UCF history. QB Daunte Culpepper is the only one in program history to be chosen in the first round, going with the 11th overall pick in 1999.